ANTICIPATION IS OUR DESTINATIONThe ArbitrarysIndie8-out-of-10Some of you will remember The Arbitrarys from a recent feature on the band in these pages.
Others will be among the fortunate to have attended the band's performance at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in the city.
For the rest, the band's CD Anticipation Is Our Destination may well be the entry point to experience this band which hails out of British Columbia. The disk has actually been out a while, but like a lot of indie music is not as well known as it should be based on its contents.
The Arbitrarys tag their music "melodramatic popular", which I suppose is simply their way to focus attention on the fact the music is a little darker, the lyrics a little more of despair than rainbows.There is nothing wrong with looking at the world with a slightly darker tinted pair of glasses, and The Arbitrarys have a knack for doing it well.
The band is made up of Naomi Kavka on guitar, piano, vocals, and even cello; Josh Sandu, guitar, vocals, piano; Justin Arding, drums; and Robyn Miller on bass.
Having both a male and female vocal lead certainly adds something to The Arbitrarys.
Both Kavka and Sandu bring a strong presence to their individual vocal work, and their voices blend nicely for harmonies; such as on So and I Don't Know, the latter being maybe the best song among the seven here.
This is a CD with a darker mood to it, without being obsessed with death and destruction, the mood coming from the general vision of our world complete with its warts. It is also a fine effort, well worth mixing into the collection.
Check them out at www.myspace.com/thearbitrarys
- CALVIN DANIELS
THE WARDEN'S PICNICB.D. GottfriedIndie8-out-of-10The Warden's Picnic is the latest release from B.D. Gottfried, now a seasoned veteran of the recording studio, it being his fifth disk, and a follow-up to the 2008 release The Element of Left. The Element was given a 9-out-of-10 here in April 2009.
The newest effort might be a touch off the lofty brilliance of the earlier effort, but only marginally so. It may also be a case where I now have a higher vision of the artist he has to live up to.
Gottfried has also proven a prolific music maker, his first solo effort Disrythmia having released as recently as 2004.
The strength of Gottfried's music is the lyrics. They're written with a straight ahead, in-your-face, sensibility. They are also written in a heavier vein. Gottfried may like butterflies, but he realizes they often ended up splattered on a car windshield, and he's not afraid to tell that tale.
The result is a rather deep and dark album with wonderful songs such as Madeleine. While I might rate this song the best, by the thinnest of record grooves, (for those of us who remember records), it really is one of 10-strong efforts.
Gottfried delivers his lyrics with clear, vibrant vocals. He clearly has written words he wants listeners to hear and he makes sure he delivers them that way.
I have grown to appreciate Gottfried's music which in approach at least reminds of Meatloaf, a huge favourite of mine.
Mark this one a winner and must have.- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
